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 | Thursday, April 27, 2000, updated at 09:10(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Chinese Companies Compete For Overseas MarketsThe exhibition hall at the Guangzhou Fair this year was overwhelmed with local businesspeople competing for attention.Shao Tieyi, secretary-general of Xiamen Trade Delegation to the 87th Chinese Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou, said that although more than 1,000 enterprises in Xiamen are authorized to do foreign trade, their delegation was only allowed to rent 110 booths at the fair. Shao's sentiments were echoed across the country. More than 30,000 domestic enterprises in China are authorized to do foreign trade and 300,000 overseas-financed businesses are also eligible to do foreign trade. Xue Hong, an official with the trade delegation representing Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, told reporters that most of Ningxia 's exports were done via businesspeople who knew of or attended the Fair in the past. Huo Shengjun, an import and export manager with the Hai'er Group, a home appliance manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong Province, said: "if enterprises in China remain inflexible, they will become redundant amidst global markets." Huo said Hai'er has built marketing outlets in more than 70 countries and exports more than US$ 100 million worth of commodities each year. Zhao Zhiming, an official with the China Chamber for Imports and Exports of Machinery and Electronics, said more Chinese enterprises can compete on the international market. China scored 360.7 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade last year, including US$ 194.9 billion in exports. China ranks ninth in the world in foreign trade. In addition to the biannual Chinese Export Commodities Fair, which is held in spring and autumn each year, major economic development regions across China have also sponsored their own trade fairs. Economically developed coastal areas even go abroad and organize their investment and trade fairs overseas. Dozens of domestic and overseas "dotcom" companies attended the 87th Chinese Export Commodities Fair and launched intensive publicity campaigns. Travel agencies promoted 20 selected tourism routes to overseas businessmen. More than 40,000 English tour brochures were distributed. "Though business deals from the fair are not big for us, we have the chance to get to know many overseas customers, which in turn means more future deals," said Xu Yongfei, a salesperson with the Golden Rose Arts and Crafts Factory based in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province. Some 2,000 domestic companies who were denied access to booths in the Hall set up stands in a nearby parking lot, a stadium and a hotel plaza to compete for attention. Exhibits included toys, ceramics, arts and crafts, and souvenirs.
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